All of us are swimming within the mystery of existence which is littered with the flotsam of differing opinions about the nature and purpose of life. To which do you cling to for solace, support, or guidance? Why? The opinions are diverse and contradictory. Some teachers affirm that there’s eternal life after death. Others instruct to live this life with gusto, for it’s the only one you have. Others warn you’ll be reborn maybe as a cockroach, if you don’t watch your step. Some thump holy books, pointing to this or that verse for the authority of their venom. Some assert there’s a deeper nature. Laughing out loud, others reply, “Are you kidding!? The person with the most toys wins.”

Many are the ways by which we give to others the locus (Latin: place) of evaluation. For example, sometimes as adults we live as extensions of our parents, unconsciously living the values, attitudes, and beliefs which they modeled during our upbringing. Your dad was a Republican; your mom a Catholic; and for years as an adult you have taken your place in the world as a Republican and a Catholic, although you have never sat down with yourself to personally evaluate your viewpoints.